Chapter 12
Ruling (and Royal) Women of the Bible
In This Chapter
Observing Michal, forever the pawn
Seeing Abigail save the day
Seeking wisdom with the Queen of Sheba
Watching Queen Athaliah reap what she sowed
T he imperial women of the Bible have vastly different backgrounds and experiences, and they prove that being royalty is often no picnic. One of these women has a royal background and is a queen in her own right (Sheba); one is the daughter and future wife of a king (Michal); and one is unexpectedly tapped as a queen (Abigail). One is even downright evil, earning the throne by eliminating her competitors (Athaliah).
In this chapter, we cover them all, noting what each of these royal women did to stand out — and leave a mark.
From Princess to Queen: Michal
Poor Michal. She is repeatedly used by the men in her life — people whom she should most trust — her father, King Saul, and her husband, the future King David. (Talk about expensive psychotherapy bills.) Her experiences as wife and daughter bear a striking resemblance to the sad story of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Michal experiences unrequited love, political intrigue, family squabbles, and personal tragedy, all of which bring nothing but unhappiness to this young, beautiful, wealthy, and powerful woman.
Falling in love
We meet Princess Michal as the youngest daughter of King Saul of Israel. She is madly in love with the young, handsome, brave, and ambitious David, but she is from a world that is different from David’s. Michal grew up in the royal court; David was a shepherd boy. She was accustomed to luxury; he was a man of simple tastes and modest living. She was cultured and refined; he was a country bumpkin. But David’s bravery and manliness were too much to deny, and after he slays the giant nemesis Goliath, a Philistine who terrorized the kingdom (see 1 Samuel 17), Michal’s heart belongs only to David.
Unfortunately for Michal, dear old dad had promised her older sister (and firstborn daughter), Merab, to whoever could eliminate Goliath. When this kid with a slingshot (David) turns out to be the Terminator, King Saul has second thoughts about giving his prized princess away in marriage. Threatened by David, who has won acclaim the kingdom over, Saul fears that marrying Merab to David could be a steppingstone toward the throne for David. So Saul promises Merab’s hand in marriage to another man, Adriel the Meholathite, instead. (See 1 Samuel 18:17–19.)
Playing the pawn
Saul soon discovers that his younger daughter, Michal, has eyes for David. Saul wants David killed to protect his own throne, and he devises a plan. Suspecting that David has big ambitions himself, he offers Michal’s hand in marriage to David in return for the foreskins of a hundred Philistine soldiers (1 Samuel 18:25). (This would be David’s dowry, which in those days was offered to the father of the bride, not vice versa). Saul hopes that this mission will be too much even for tough and brave David and that he will perish on his quest.
But Saul underestimates David, who returns not with 100 foreskins, but with 200. Saul is forced to make good on his deal, and David marries Michal. Although Michal is thrilled to marry the man she is passionate about, David appears to view his marriage to Michal as more of a political move that would get him closer to the throne.
Saul doesn’t give in lightly to his new son-in-law, and he continues to plot David’s demise. But once again, Saul misjudges a situation. Michal, still madly in love with David, gets wind of a plot that her father has cooked up and helps David escape Saul’s clutches. She shows bravery, loyalty, and quick thinking to save David’s life. First, she spills the beans about the plot to David and then helps him escape out the window while dressing up an idol with goat’s hair to fool Saul’s soldiers (no decent mannequins back then). When asked where he is, Michal simply says he’s sick. After it is discovered that David has escaped, Saul asks his daughter why she deceived her own father and why she gave sanctuary to his enemy. She simply tells her dad that as far as she is concerned, David has no deadly motives. She is standing by her man. (See this account in 1 Samuel 19:11–17.)
Abandoning Michal
Unfortunately, David doesn’t take Michal with him. Poor Michal makes the ultimate sacrifice to save David’s life, perhaps believing, as the saying goes, “If you love someone, set him free; if he comes back, he’s yours.” Unfortunately, David doesn’t hurry back, nor does it appear that absence has made David’s heart grow fonder. He flees to Ramah and hides with the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 19:18).
Proof of David’s disinterest in Michal comes first in the form of Abigail, whom David takes as a wife while he is on the lam. (See her story later in this chapter.) Later, he takes a third wife, Ahinoam, even though he is still married to Michal. Meanwhile, Saul gives Michal in marriage to Palti, though Michal’s marriage to Palti (also called Phaltiel) is completely invalid — she was still married to David, after all. (Unfair as it was, ancient custom was that a man could have more than one wife or concubine but a woman could only have one husband.) Saul didn’t much care, however, that the marriage was invalid because he hated David and regretted the marriage of his daughter to his archenemy. (See 1 Samuel 25:42–43 for the details.)
Though Palti loves Michal and treats her well, she still loves David. Sadly, during the 14 years Michal is separated from David, he makes no attempt to retrieve her or communicate with her. David takes six more wives and bears children with many of them in the meantime.
But seven years after Saul dies, David finds he needs Michal once again. Still not king of Israel, he makes a deal to have Michal forcibly removed from the sobbing Palti to be returned as David’s wife (2 Samuel 3:13–14).
David was anointed by the prophet Samuel as king of Israel (see 1 Samuel 16:13) while Saul still lived, although David didn’t assume the throne until after his death. David was king in the eyes of God by the anointing from Samuel, but for political power and acceptance outside as well as inside the realm, he needed some other link of legitimacy. Therefore, his marriage to the king’s daughter was his “ace in the hole.” The marriage wasn’t enough in itself to make him king, but it got his foot in the door nonetheless.
Publicly berating David
Perhaps Michal had had enough of keeping quiet and playing the pawn. Or perhaps she was drawn to expose David for what he was: a selfish, self-serving husband. Maybe she was simply unhappy. She’d been taken from a husband who’d loved her for many years, and reunited with one who didn’t return her love. Whatever her motivation, many scholars believe her next act may have caused God to punish her with infertility.
After the Ark of the Covenant (the receptacle containing the Ten Commandments and the holiest artifact in Judaism; the symbol of the Covenant between God and his Chosen People) is ceremoniously brought into Jerusalem, King David makes a public show of piety for the Lord, “uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ maids.” Believing David has made a spectacle of himself, Michal reprimands him with a fierce tongue-lashing. Ironically, the one time she stands up to her poor excuse for a husband is possibly out of jealousy of his display of affection for God. Bad timing. Of all the moments to ridicule the king, she chooses the time he dances before the Lord — probably not the smoothest of moves. Michal is punished with being barren until her death. (See 2 Samuel 6:17–23 for this story.)
This is the last time Michal is mentioned except for when the Bible again mentions the story of Michal watching David dance in front of the Lord.
—2 Samuel 6:16
Used by her father, Saul, and then by husband David, Michal didn’t love the only man who truly loved her: Palti. Unfairly treated for the most part, Michal was nevertheless a link in the chain between David and Saul, and for that she suffered.
Quick-Thinking Abigail: A Wife Saves Her Husband
Abigail is politically astute, diplomatically savvy, and strong. She is smart enough to think for herself, and she is quick on her feet — rescuing her husband, Nabal, from the hand of David. Boorish, uncouth, ill-mannered, and bad-tempered, Nabal makes Homer Simpson look like Cary Grant in comparison. And instead of blindly following after her husband, Abigail (see Figure 12-1 for one artist’s view of her) violates the biblical tradition of obeying one’s husband, no matter what the circumstance. Through her uncharacteristic rebelliousness, Abigail’s example teaches that independent thinking — especially in the name of doing the right thing — does, in fact, get rewarded by God.
|
Figure 12-1: David and Abigail, c. 1570–1580 by Frans the Elder Pourbus (1545–1581). Located in Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria. |
|
Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY
Racketeering, Bible-style
One wonders how Nabal was lucky enough to marry Abigail, who is described as both beautiful and clever. Nabal is certainly a wealthy man, having earned his money as a successful sheep rancher. But despite his business acumen, the Bible implies that he overindulges in drink and often speaks without considering the consequences. Eventually, Nabal puts the ultimate foot in his mouth.
David and his men — still on the lam from David’s murderous father-in-law, Saul — had offered “protection” to Nabal’s flock (in true gangster style), when the sheep-shearing festival began.
But instead of showing the proper hospitality and gratitude to David for his offer, Nabal instead displays much bravado and refuses to acknowledge or repay David’s favor with food or other offerings (1 Samuel 25:10–11). Whether David’s actions are virtuous is debatable; most likely, they’re more like ancient racketeering. In today’s language, this is like dissing Tony Soprano — a dangerous oversight, to say the least.
But no matter what David’s motivations, he has plenty of power, as well as God’s mandate as the future king of Israel.
Before her husband is forced to sleep with the fishes, Abigail comes to the rescue. Realizing his fatal gaffe, she slips away from her crass spouse and brings wine and food to David and his men. (We’re talking a lot of food: two hundred loaves, two skins of wine, five sheep, five measures of parched grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs.) She begs forgiveness for Nabal’s bad behavior. When she returns, her husband is crocked, and she waits until morning to report what she has done to save his life. When he hears the story, though, he is so shocked that the stress causes him to have a stroke, and ten days later he keels over dead. Nabal appears doomed no matter what. Abigail could have kept her deeds secret, but she told her husband the truth, not only of what she did but that Nabal barely escaped death by offending David until she patched things up. Finding out was too much for him, however, and he died anyway. (See 1 Samuel 25:18–38 for this story.)
David hears of Nabal’s demise and takes Abigail as one of his wives (1 Samuel 25:39–42). All that the Bible says after their nuptials is that they had a son, Chileab (sometimes called Daniel). Otherwise, not much more is said of her, despite the fact that she becomes a wife of a very pivotal person in scripture.
The last time we hear of Abigail is when she and David’s other wife (Ahinoam) are captured by the Amalekites and held hostage until he rescues them (1 Samuel 30:5–18). Then she disappears from the radar screen.
Benefiting from Abigail
By defying her husband, Abigail validates David’s kingship. She also enables David to retain his self-respect without having to senselessly kill Nabal. Her tactfulness, common sense, and propriety serve to make her the one constant in David’s chaotic life. Other women were used by him or were treated as objects or pawns, whereas Abigail won his love and admiration. Her quick thinking ultimately spares her life and ensures her position as a future queen consort (someone who wears a crown by virtue of being married to the reigning monarch).
Intelligent and Independent: The Queen of Sheba
Some of the world’s smartest people know exactly how much they don’t know. In her day, the Queen of Sheba was a good example of this.
The Queen of Sheba travels far and offers up great wealth in appreciation of King Solomon’s wisdom. She is a ruling queen in her own right, and her story is significant because it sheds light on the golden era of King Solomon’s reign in Israel. (King Solomon was the son of King David and Bathsheba). The Queen of Sheba’s story is a testament to her own intelligence and independence, even during a time when women weren’t usually afforded the same rights or respect as men.
Can the real Queen of Sheba please stand up?
There is much speculation about the actual identity of the Queen of Sheba, because she is never mentioned by her proper name. In fact, she’s probably the most famous unnamed woman in the Bible. Some scholars speculate that she may have actually been Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt, Queen Makeda of Ethiopia, or Queen Balkis of Abyssinia. Other experts point out that only the Queens of Sabean Kingdom (present-day Yemen) occupied a high place of honor that equaled that of their male (king) counterparts.
We meet the Queen of Sheba as a brave woman who travels 1,200 miles by camel caravan to see the famous King Solomon the Wise (1 Kings 10:1–13). Although other rulers send ambassadors and emissaries to visit the king of Israel, the Queen of Sheba insists on visiting him herself. This is no mere state visit, however. She comes seeking wisdom, and Solomon has by this time been identified as the world’s wisest man. Sheba is indeed a true philosopher (from the Greek, philo sophia, meaning lover of wisdom).
She pays a visit to the world-renowned Solomon’s Temple (Temple of Jerusalem) and asks Solomon hard questions — sort of like the final round of Jeopardy. She quickly comes to realize that the reports of his wisdom are true, and she praises his knowledge: “Not even half had been told me; your wisdom and prosperity far surpass the report that I had heard. Happy are your wives! Happy are these your servants, who continually attend you and hear your wisdom!” (1 Kings 10:7–8).
In return for this education, her majesty brings Solomon a gift of gold roughly equivalent today to $3.5 million — making even today’s most expensive private universities a comparative bargain! The Queen of Sheba returns home, and we never hear of her again. Was her curiosity satisfied? Was her diplomatic mission accomplished? We don’t know. She leaves as mysteriously as she appears.
Praising the queen
Jesus remembers the role of the Queen of Sheba in the Gospel of Mathew. Praising her quest for knowledge and truth, Jesus states, “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!” (Matthew 12:42).
Athaliah: The Ice Queen
Athaliah, alas, is not fondly remembered. Her blind ambition and cunning are surely, in the end, her downfall. Athaliah treats human life cheaply and often with contempt. She has no loyalty to faith or family. Her brutality and ruthlessness only bring her to her own miserable end. She demonstrates how corrupt power brokers can manipulate others and how evil can lurk in almost any corridor. Although she isn’t the only corrupt ruler in biblical times, she certainly isn’t a good representative of her gender. If you can learn anything from her example, it’s to turn away from evil — “For you reap whatever you sow” (Galatians 6:7).
Ruling Judah
Athaliah proves the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. She takes after her father, Ahab, and her mother Jezebel in promoting pagan Baal worship among her people, trying to replace and eradicate the Hebrew religion. Athaliah is the only woman of the Bible reported to have reigned as a sovereign queen of Judah, sitting on the throne of David. She lives in a time during which the 12 tribes of Israel are no longer united under one king (as they were in Saul’s, David’s, and Solomon’s time). Rather, the tribes are ruled separately as parts of Judah and Israel, as shown in Figure 12-2.
|
Figure 12-2: A map of Israel, the divided kingdom. |
|
Unfortunately, her unique place in history isn’t known for that singular fact as much as for her despicable evil, injustice, and wanton immorality. No doting grandma, she personally orders the massacre of her own grandchildren to secure her crown as queen. Athaliah truly has ice water running through her veins. After the death of her husband, King Jehoram (who reigned 12 years) and then her son, King Ahaziah (who reigned 1 year), she wants the throne so badly that she orders the execution of the royal family (all her son’s children) to ensure that no opponents would prevent her from seizing the crown for herself. Fortunately, one grandson (Joash) escapes with the help of Jehosheba, his aunt and sister of the late King Ahaziah. (See this story in 2 Kings 11:1–3.)
Manipulating fate
When this grandson, Joash, is old enough, he is revealed to the people and praised and recognized as king. As punishment, Athaliah is trampled to death by horses (2 Kings 11:16).
“What goes around, comes around” is an old folk proverb that applies to Athaliah. She lived a wicked life like her evil mother, Jezebel (see Chapter 16). Both were thirsty for power and were unscrupulous in seizing and keeping it. Both died an ignominious death as well: Jezebel was eaten by dogs and Athaliah was trampled by horses. Their Machiavellian politics may have earned them the crown, but it came with a high price. History sees both women as amoral megalomaniacs who used tactics no different than those used by Hitler or Stalin. Athaliah was corrupt before she became queen, and after she claimed the throne, she continued her evil empire. After Athaliah’s six-year reign of terror, the Bible says no more about her.